Post/Author/DateTime	Post
WCH 09-15-04, 11:06 PM	I'm a DM on a limited budget. My friends and I only started playing this Spring, so all we've got at the moment are the core rulebooks (2 copies of a couple of them), but I've got $50 in gift certificates to a mall I plan to spend on a book. My question is which book would you suggest? I'm leaning toward Vile Darkness, although Exalted Deeds, Fiend Folio and Deities & Demigods are all very tempting. My campaign is pretty flexible at the moment, and I really could use any of them... just wondering what people think gives you the most bang for your buck, as it were.
Seeker95 09-15-04, 11:50 PM	Do you want a book for you as DM or for your players?
SlaineFargallows 09-15-04, 11:57 PM	If it were my $50 I'd throw it down on MM3 or Fiend Folio. IMO, all the sourcebooks are pure fluff that any campaign can do without. An expanded bestiary of figurative poo to fling at your group? Money well spent. :D :D :D
castlemike 09-16-04, 12:30 AM	I'd recommend the FRCS (Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting) over ECS or another single source book because you'll get the biggest bang for your bucks IMO. There is a wealth of preexisting 2E and 3E Material available for Free in the downloads section under D&D or on the web (see upper left of the posts) which can be modified for a FRCS with a little tweaking instead of having to invent the wheel from scratch. From Level 1 to level 20. Not to mention lots of downloads for $5 for PDFs from SVGames or other sources.
allenchan 09-16-04, 01:54 AM	For players and DMs, MM3 is deffinately a good choice, some of the ones you mentioned aren't fully 3.5 and could lead to some conflicts. As just a player I really love the "Complete" books
MerricB 09-16-04, 02:36 AM	I'm a DM on a limited budget. My friends and I only started playing this Spring, so all we've got at the moment are the core rulebooks (2 copies of a couple of them), but I've got $50 in gift certificates to a mall I plan to spend on a book. My question is which book would you suggest? I'm leaning toward Vile Darkness, although Exalted Deeds, Fiend Folio and Deities & Demigods are all very tempting. My campaign is pretty flexible at the moment, and I really could use any of them... just wondering what people think gives you the most bang for your buck, as it were. I think I can safely say that Deities & Demigods is the book that will help you the least. Do you want to have your characters fighting the gods? No? Then it won't be of much use. Cheers!
diaglo 09-16-04, 10:52 AM	for you i'd recommend the Draconomicon.
Kelwyn 09-16-04, 11:02 AM	I would recommend something like Monster Manual 2/3, or the Complete *** books, nice books to have around
Sir Knight 09-16-04, 11:21 AM	It depends on what you wanna do. Some of my favorites are: Draconomicon - HUGE book o' dragons. Awesome but probably not much use for lower levels. Libris Mortis - HUGE book o' undead. Will be released next month and is supposed to be exactly like Draconomicon but for Undead. If it delivers, it could be the best option as Undead are available for all levels. Complete Warrior - A nice splat book that has options for all characters. Complete Divine - Similar but focuses on divine magic. It's not as good. Complete Arcane and Complete Adventurer are due out soon. Races of Stone - VERY detailed book for Dwarves and Gnomes. Limited usefulness depending on your players and campaign. Nicely done. For a DM, I suggest Monster Manual II, III, and Fiend Folio. All are wonderous. Off of the top of my head, those would be my first suggestions.
Rian Lightblade 09-16-04, 12:26 PM	For the most bang for the buck I spend it on the MM3 and a used copy of the 3.0 Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (off e-bay or somthing) More Monsters and creatures to throw at the party is always a good thing. Plus, as others have said, there is a ton of free 2ed Forgotten Realms books and stuff you can download from the main D&D site. The 2ed stuff converts to 3ed, with a little work but hey it's FREE!
ieattrollsforbreakfast 09-16-04, 12:29 PM	I would recommend Complete Warrior if you want a good book for DMs and players. The PrCs are good for NPCs and players and the warfare chapter is great for DMs. I also highly recomment the Draconomicon. Its an excellent read but as Sir Knight said, it will find little use in low level games. The MM2/3 and Fiend Folio are also good books for a DM.
WCH 09-16-04, 07:27 PM	Ooh, a Draconomicon for the Undead? (*cough* Necronomicon *cough*) I might go with that... although Vile Darkness is still very tempting.
The_Declaration 09-16-04, 10:34 PM	depends what you're looking for. For a pure D&D rules perspectives, i'd get one of these: - Draconomicon: awsome book about Dragons. awsome. - Expanded Psionics handbook: that's because i really love psionics. - Frostburn: not out yet, but all the excerpts we got about it lets me think it's gonna be a very good book (if you like cold weather). If you're looking for a D&D setting, these are my current favourites: - Forgotten Realms: that's the classical tolkien-like one, very messy but very cool and fun - Eberron: the new kid on the block, mix of several different things: fantasy, noir and an original approach of magic and modern society that give it a kinda steampunk flavour. - Iron Kingdoms: that's really steampunk, mix between Castle Falkenstein and Fallout (the video game). Erghh, forget Castle Falkenstein :D - Dawnforge: wow, this one rules, totally epic. Lets you be part of the fate of a new-born world.
Wildonion 09-16-04, 11:08 PM	So you have the 3.5 core books right? And you have a campaign. I would get the new Forgotten Realms, I love FR. How long has the group played/ how many sessions and Level?
Seeker95 09-16-04, 11:26 PM	I recommend getting the Greyhawk Campaign Setting. Not the 3e version. Find an old 1e version on e-Bay. Then have at your players with a world *you* flesh out instead of having it handed to you in a script. :D Anything but the Forgettable Realms. Although I am getting more and more intrigued by Eberron. I just don't recommend it to a new group. Its deviation from the stereotypes is such that it might spoil the ability to enjoy "standard fare".
WCH 09-17-04, 12:47 AM	So you have the 3.5 core books right? And you have a campaign. I would get the new Forgotten Realms, I love FR. How long has the group played/ how many sessions and Level?Only books I (and by "I" I mean myself and two friends who let me have their books, since I DM usually) own are 2 copies of the Player's Handbook, 2 copies of the DMG and one of the Monster Manual, all 3.5e. I have one campaign that's sort of been shelfed for now, since, during the summer, we never had a single session (never got all 4 of us free on one night... such bullcrap...) which is at lvl 4 (we started playing this spring, went weekly for a while and then kept talking about meeting up for our next session but never actually did it). I'm currently working on a one-off adventure (scheduled for next weekend), probably in the lvl 7 range, and in 2 weeks-a month I'll be starting up a new campaign with new players I haven't played with before. Will probably start at lvl 1, unless I'm too lazy to come up with weak-ass adventures, in which case lvl 3 or 5.
Ed Cha 09-17-04, 08:26 AM	Award-nominated RPGs, including a couple of great beginner adventure settings, on sale now: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com --- If you can wait, Amazon.com usually has at least 20-30% off with free shipping. I think there was a special for Draconomicon and The Complete Warrior a while ago. I don't know if you necessarily need those to start a game though. I'm a big proponent of adventures, especially for people starting new campaigns. I find them more useful than big campaign setting books, at least the way most are packaged today.